About Urban Anthropology
Urban anthropology is the study of human beings and their cultural institutions in cities. The focus of the course will be on urbanism (i.e., how large, dense, heterogeneous settlements shape behavior) and urbanization. We will look at the strategies people, both as individuals and in groups; use to cope with the demands posed by urban environments. The course considers the development and characteristics of urban societies and the cultures of modern cities; evaluates theories and methods for understanding the structure, function, and change in the social and cultural systems of the urban areas. Third World urbanization; urban development and problems of urbanization in Ethiopia will be given emphasis in the course. Classic and contemporary perspectives and works of influential thinkers on the historical, socio-political, cultural dimensions of urban and rural ways of life, problems facing the urban societies across time and space, urbanization processes in the Third World, the applications of this stream of anthropology in our contemporary world situations… etc will be addressed in this course.